diff --git a/sds.c b/sds.c
index 9226799fc..998564dbf 100644
--- a/sds.c
+++ b/sds.c
@@ -295,7 +295,11 @@ sds *sdssplitlen(char *s, int len, char *sep, int seplen, int *count) {
 #ifdef SDS_ABORT_ON_OOM
     if (tokens == NULL) sdsOomAbort();
 #endif
-    if (seplen < 1 || len < 0 || tokens == NULL) return NULL;
+    if (tokens == NULL) return NULL;
+    if (seplen < 1 || len < 0) {
+        free(tokens);
+        return NULL;
+    }
     if (len == 0) {
         *count = 0;
         return tokens;